"You seem to recognise me, yet I don't know you. Isn't this impolite?" The man casually said, yet the pressure he gave off was enough for Kazu's knees to buckle.
"It's my honour to meet the second guild master of the guild." Kazu slightly bowed his head.
"Oh? I didn't expect younger generations to know me." Hades raised a brow. "Though you say that it's your honour, why do you look so on guard? Is that due to my aura?"
Next instant, the aura surrounding the area disappeared, as if it didn't exist. To Kazu, Hades looked like a fragile old man who would drop any second.
'Fuck, not even my instincts are giving me any warnings.' Kazu was truly shocked that there were beings who could fool his magic.
"What's your name, child?"
"Kazu... Kazu Sukehiro." Kazu answered after a few seconds.
"Kazu Sukehiro... That name has so many meanings. One way it could be seen as a Peaceful night. For me to meet you, when it's almost sunrise, when this peaceful night is almost ending... I wonder what this could mean."
Kazu's body went stiff. He moved all his Ethernano to his right fist.
"Do you know a person named Anne? Anne Roadwalker."
Kazu didn't move. Not a twitch of muscle, no blink of eye, nothing. He was completely still.
"So, you know her. Where is she?"
'How did he figure out?' Kazu cursed at his instincts.
When he needed it the most, they were unresponsive.
"She's dead." Kazu decided to be truthful, not wanting to take any risk in such an uncertain situation, where saying one wrong syllable will mean death.
"What?" Hades was taken aback. "Who killed her?"
"Me. I killed her. With a sword, after using a magic cuff on her." Kazu felt words smoothly coming out.
'Am I in some kind of spell or is it coz I am tensed?' Kazu didn't know what was happening. However, it made him panic, as if it were the former; then secrets about his reincarnation would come out, along with meta-knowledge, which was the last thing he wanted to reveal in this situation.
"Interesting. Guess she was really weakened after her fight with that crazy woman. I came because I thought she might have a child, but now I am not interested in her. Tell me, child, have you heard about Zeref?"
"...I have. In fact, I know a lot about him."
"Really? This will save a lot of time. Basically, have you wondered what the source of Magic is? Currently, most of the experts believe that magic is universal. Me included. That was until recently.
That's not true. Magic has one concept—The One Magic. It's the ultimate form of magic, and the only being who is closest to achieving this is Zeref. I am on my quest to find keys to Zeref's seal and awaken him." Hades smiled as he talked about his goal.
"How about you join me?"
---
"Ahh... My head hurts." Cana mumbled, getting up from the bed.
Her eyes were cloudy. She blinked a few times before she was able to see properly.
The first thing she saw was a shirtless boy—Gray. Her mind auto-corrected.
"Holy Shit! Am I in Hell? Did you also die Gray?"
Gray twitched. "Why was that the first thought that came to you when you looked at me?"
"Dunno." Cana shrugged. "So?"
She looked around and found Erza a few metres away from her. Her eyes showed relief.
Beside her was— "Master, you are here too? Wait, am I alive?"
"Yup blockhead. You were too dumb to die." Gray shook his head.
Cana's lips twitched. She turned back to Gray, who was looking at her with a teasing gaze. However, Cana could also see a hint of relief in his eyes.
"Tch. I am in a good mood, so I would let you go."
"What you mean is that you can't find a good comeback. Lame." Gray's lips curved into crescents.
"YOU!" Cana cocked her arm back, ready to punch Gray into oblivion.
"Calm down, you two." Erza waved her hand as she came in between the two.
Both of them in question didn't have any change in expression as they continued looking at each other, as if Erza didn't exist.
"You two really are kids...I wonder how Kazu put you two in line." Erza muttered. However, the duo clearly heard her.
Gray's expression turned complex. Cana instantly noticed it.
Only then did she realise that Kazu wasn't in the room.
"Where's Kazu?"
Gray averted his eyes. Master's face turned contemplative.
Looking at them, Cana got a bad feeling. She turned to Erza.
"Well..."
Erza started explaining what happened.
"What the fuck? How can you let him go? We need to find him now." Cana jumped off from the bed before dashing towards the door.
"Wait! Didn't you hear about the master said about Kazu saying—"
"I fucking don't care! If he is guilty about what happened to me, then he should have talked to me directly. Also, the other thing about him being unlucky is complete bullshit. Since when did the all logical guy become superstitious? He clearly wasn't in his right mind. How could you guys let him go in that state?"
Gray's expression crumbled. He wanted to retort, but he found no words. Most of what Cana said aligned with how he felt about the situation. He was just too shaken by that sibling incident to think properly.
"And what if he really was unlucky? What then?" Erza suddenly asked.
Cana paused. "And? It doesn't matter. We just need to work on breaking that curse or just not dying. Simple."
"But, what if we think that's not possible. Won't that be better to let him go with his own choice to prevent others from getting hurt?"
A vein popped on Cana's forehead. "We won't know until we TRY. Moreover, KAZU is FAMILY. How could you even think of letting him go like that on a crappy superstition that is not even true?"
Gray nodded. "I agree with her."
Erza didn't say anything for a few seconds before nodding. "Indeed. I agree with you as well." Erza smiled.
"Well, then let's go." Cana opened the door and dashed out. Gray followed behind.
"Master, we will be back." He said that. Erza also nodded to the master before following the other two.
Makarov watched the open door for a few seconds. "Kids grow up so fast..." He muttered, nostalgia reflected on his face.
He felt a warm feeling in his chest.
Pride.
Looking at the next generation, he felt pride.
---
"I would rather die than do that."
Black Ethernano came out of his fist as Kazu punched with his all might.
'One Hit KO'
He had instinctively used the move Cana had created.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
He didn't bother using a barrier due to practically punching point-blank.
The air pressure generated caused multiple trees to get uprooted.
The reaction force sent Kazu skidding a few metres back.
'Shit. I don't have any Ethernano left. Luckily, most of the reaction force went to the ground due to my angle of punch. Guess, my instincts are still working.'
Kazu looked at the dust blowing in front of him.
'I hit him when he would least expect it. Moreover, the power and the almost instant attack, he should have at least taken some damage, right?'
"It's a shame that you would rather die, especially with the amount of darkness in your heart."
Kazu barely had enough time to tilt his head as he saw purple before everything went black.
There was no Ethernano left in his body, so he couldn't make any barriers to defend.
In hindsight, it wouldn't have mattered, as even his strongest barrier wouldn't have stopped that purple bullet.
Hades looked at Kazu's still body for a few seconds—at the Fairy's Tail's emblem on his burned chest.
He then left the clearing.
---
BOOOM
"What's that loud sound? Is somebody fighting?"
"It's in the same direction from where Kazu went. Let's check it out."
The trio increased their pace as they rushed in that direction.
"I think Kazu didn't hide his tracks because he wanted us to follow him. To not let him go." Erza suddenly said, her expression showing respect.
"Uhh... I don't think he knows how to hide his tracks." Gray deadpanned.
"Wait, what?" Erza felt as if somebody had poured cold water on her.
"Wasn't he a hunter or something? How can he not know how to hide his tracks?" Cana furrowed her brows.
Gray shrugged, at least tried to. However, with Cana on his back, it didn't appear like that.
"He was saying something about that being good, as more prey will come to him, thinking that they are the predator."
"What the hell?" Cana suddenly said, looking at some uprooted trees on the ground.
"It seems we are close. Be on guard." Gray said, before stopping and dropping Cana.
They carefully walked forward.
"...Is that Kazu?"
***
A/n- Guys, we missed the reaping out most of the first 30-day window a new book gets. So, I would be moving the book under a {new_version} name in one or two days. You can find the new book with the same title or just go to my profile, when that happens. The content would be same.
(I won't be deleting this one for a month). Just wanted to say.
***
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